Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has announced an agreement with Hamas to disarm, claiming progress towards ending the killing in Gaza.
But rather than “disarm”, Hamas agreed to decommission its weapons and place them under the control of a Palestinian National Committee, in a staged process in exchange for gradual Israeli withdrawal.
Under the agreement, Israel first has to fulfil its obligations under last year’s ceasefire, to allow aid into Gaza and to halt its ongoing attacks.
In the weekend following the announcement, Israel killed another 26 Palestinians in Gaza in a series of strikes, including a number of families in their homes. It also destroyed a medical warehouse attached to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah. Since last year’s so called “ceasefire”, Israel has now killed over 1250 people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then reportedly told Trump he had “serious security concerns” about the agreement and Israel would not withdraw beyond the “yellow line” in Gaza, the 53 per cent of the area it occupied at the time of the ceasefire, until Hamas had completely disarmed.
Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza are on-going and Israel hasn’t even agreed to allow the Palestinian National Committee supposed to take over control of Gaza to enter.
Israel has never wanted peace with the Palestinians. It wants to expel them from their land, as it continues to do in the West Bank, and to crush any resistance to its occupation.
Israel has no right to insist that Hamas disarm. But Hamas is under immense pressure from states that have previously sponsored it including Qatar and Turkey.
Israel continues to prevent crucial parts and equipment required to repair basic services such as power and sewage into Gaza. And it refuses to allow even the discussion about reconstruction of homes, schools and hospitals until Hamas completely disarms.
The genocide in Gaza continues, as the US, and its allies like Anthony Albanese, arms Israel and allows it to inflict inhuman conditions on its whole population.
